Spring has finally sprung!
You might have noticed that Nest’s shopfront has had a spring clean and spruce thanks to the Shopfront Improvement Grant. What do you think of the new look?
We’re hoping that a lick of paint will encourage footfall to the shop and help locals notice us. We’ve been at our premises by the bridge for over a year now but we still get bemused locals exclaiming, “I never knew this place existed!”
If April has put a spring in your step, too, why not use the dose of motivation to spring clean your craft corner? We know, it’s a daunting prospect. Especially if like most crafters you have hoarding tendencies and don’t like to throw anything out.
However, when you start avoiding boxes and drawers lest a wool monster springs out you know it’s time for an intervention!
Tackling your craft room, the office supply cabinet, garage or wherever you hoard your craft stash is a great way to rediscover materials and make some space—but don’t throw anything away.
There’s always an opportunity to reuse or recycle old materials.
Here’s 12 quick tips on how to tackle you mountain of craft supplies with minimal waste:
Gather everything in one place
It might sound daunting but emptying every drawer, cabinet, caboodle and bag will help you see which items you use regularly versus what’s been gathering dust.
You might rediscover special craft tools languishing in a bottom drawer or realise that you don’t decoupage as much as you think, therefore buying more colourful tissue paper is a waste.
There’s almost certainly going to be more than one half empty tube of glue!
Sort into piles
Divide your crafts into three piles: keep, reuse/recycle and donate.
Dividing your crafts into three piles will make the whole process more manageable. If you’re swithering about what to keep and what to donate you could try Marie Kondo’s “spark joy” technique.
If an item doesn’t spark joy, it’s time to rehome—or give the item a new lease of life as something else!
Identify potential projects
Are there materials, tools or old projects in the “keep” pile that could be used in a new project?
If you plan to decorate your home for Easter, it’s worth sifting through the supplies you currently have before buying new. Challenge yourself to use items or tools that you’ve not touched in a while.
A spring wreath or Easter table display are great options for using up excess supplies.
Sell or give away complete projects
If completed projects are taking up space on your shelves or tucked away in a cupboard not being appreciated, it’s time to dust them off and find them a new home.
A craft project could make a beautiful, unique gift for a friend or you could donate it to a local shop or community centre that needs cheering up.
Or why not sell your mini masterpieces online, at a craft fair or in your local art shop?
Etsy is an e-commerce platform where hundreds of artists and makers sell their art online. It’s relatively quick and easy to open an Etsy shop and you don’t need to worry about the overheads of a bricks and mortar shop.
At Nest we’re passionate about supporting local makers and being able to show the wealth of talent there is Blairgowrie, Rattray and the surrounding area.
Our gift shop area sells a wide range of items made by our studio residents and local creatives. We are currently supporting over 40 makers by providing space for them to sell to our local community and visitors to Blairgowrie.
No fee is required for renting the space, with 20% commission taken on all sales made.
Whether you choose to gift or sell don’t let your beautiful art gather dust!
Digitise your artwork
Events like BRAW Arts Festival in August are great opportunities for local artists to showcase their talent and make money from their paintings.
If you’re a painter you could scan and digitise your artwork.
You might feel better about parting with a painting that’s taking up space if you have a digital copy of it. Or, if you really don’t want to sell you could create an inspiring gallery wall of personal art in your home.
Reduce or recycle glue
Sometimes there’s no saving dried up glues, resins, paints, or primers. You know the kind—so dried out that you can’t twist the cap off!
Before you bin old tubes TerraCycle will recycle glue containers, tape dispensers and other hard to recycle materials.
The easiest way to reduce waste when it comes to glues, resins and paints is to consume less in the first place and only use what you need. A regular spring clean will let you see how much product you’re using so that you can adjust the amount you buy next time.
Another bonus of this spring-cleaning method is that it frees up space in your drawers!
Turn scrap paper into confetti
This is such an easy and fun tip!
Most crafters will have coloured card and pretty paper lying around waiting to be used. Instead of recycling unwanted paper you can use scissors to cut up scrap pieces of paper and make into confetti.
DIY confetti can be used at summer weddings, birthday parties, an Easter picnic, slipped into a card or gift…the possibilities are endless. And a lot more fun than simply throwing good paper away.
Reorganise your “keep” crafts
Time to bring order to chaos!
Go through all your drawers, boxes, and containers and relabel them so you can keep track of what you own.
If you need more boxes to keep things organised, you could ask your local supermarket or hardware shop if they have any cardboard boxes going to waste. Patterned paper wrap and decoupage will jazz up the otherwise plain cardboard—and don’t forget to add the all-important label.
That way it will be harder to forget what supplies you have. And easier to find what you’re looking for!
DIY extra containers
Following on from the last tip, you can further DIY your craft storage.
Use supplies and materials from your keep pile (no buying new!) to craft trays from shoeboxes as storage for pens, washi tape and other stationary you use regularly.
Being crafters we’re blessed with imagination and creativity, so there’s no need to buy new unless it’s absolutely necessary!
Use jam jars to store pens
Another way to keep stationary organised is by washing out old jam jars, yoghurt pots or mason jars to store pens, scissors, rulers and other often reached for items.
Decorate the empty jar or pot with scrap twine and ribbon uncovered from your spring clean.
Recycle old magazines
Do you have a stash of old crochet magazines or knitting patterns?
Many of us hoard magazines and patterns for inspiration at a later date, but if your stash is getting out of hand it’s time to free up space by donating magazines you won’t read and patterns you won’t use.
Consider whether your local second-hand bookshop will take magazines before popping them in the recycle bin. We take craft magazines here at Nest.
Donate materials
You can donate remnant fabric and any arts and crafts materials to Nest’s Remnant Shop. All supplies from our Remnant Shop are material diverted from landfill. Proceeds from sales go towards funding community activities.
Much better than chucking unwanted material in the bin!
Hopefully these tips have inspired you to tackle a crafty spring clean. With April’s chilly, showery weather keeping us indoors there’s no excuse!
If you found this post useful you might also enjoy 6 Ways To Be More Sustainable In Your Craft for more ideas.
If you liked this post, share it with your crafty friends!